


The Fourth Wall

by AXEe



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Gen, general danvers monthly, medical AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-08 07:45:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14100684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Madness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.    What one person sees as insanity, another sees as genius...





	1. Who's the More Foolish? The Fool? Or the Fool Who Follows Him?

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [GDMonthly6](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GDMonthly6) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> An AU in which Astra and Alex are doctors, or doctor/patient if you'd prefer, or anything in the same vein.
> 
> Here we are folks! My GD Monthly 6 claim is finally up. This one as an idea, I've had for a while, back when I was writing "OF Sound Mind", I realized that the basic premise of "Mind" could either way, you could have it where Alex is the patient or where Astra's the patient, so this fic is kind of an alternative take on "Of Sound Mind" if you'd like.
> 
> Anyway please enjoy

******

_**“Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage”** _

\--Ray Bradbury

******

“Nurse, could you check on the patient in Room 52?”

Alex Danvers nodded as she moved down the hall, passing various other orderlies and patients as she approached Room 52. Unlocking the door, she looked down at the chart to confirm the patient’s identity

Astrid Starr, a.k.a. ‘Astra Inze’  
Admitted four months ago with acute paranoid schizophrenia  
Suffers from self-delusions, believes herself to be an alien being known as ‘General Astra’ and the aunt of Supergirl  
HANDLE WITH EXTREME CAUTION, Patient can be extremely violent when provoked  
Currently in catatonic state

Looking up from the chart, Alex started at the sight of the supposedly catatonic patient in question now sitting up on the bed _watching_ her Striking grey-green eyes watching her every move, tracking her as she slowly lowered the chart to her side.

Awkwardly clearing her throat, Alex spoke

“Hello,” she began, pleased that her voice didn’t waver “I’m Alex, well, nurse Danvers actually,” she introduced herself

The woman didn’t respond, just continued staring at her, and there was something in those eyes that made Alex shiver, something…otherworldly, could this woman really be an alien? Like Superman, like Supergirl, and that Martian Manhunter figure roaming around?

Seeing that the woman wasn’t planning on responding, Alex continued

“Uh, well, I’m here to give you a check up, see how you’re doing,”

A slow nod was her response, the woman’s eyes never leaving her as she cautiously approached the bed and put on her stethoscope and listened the woman’s heat beat, frowning at the odd galloping quality, unusual, but not otherworldly. Checking her pulse revealed a similar skipping quality, and her eyes…her eyes, the irises seemed to be multi-faceted like a gem or jewel

“So, are they treating you OK?” Alex asked as she finished her examine, scribbling her notes down for Dr. Luthor to look at later. The woman turned to look at her, but still hadn’t spoken; it was getting kind of creepy to be honest

“Right,” Alex muttered to herself as she turned to leave “well…have a good day” she muttered

“ _Hei mihi, insanire me ajunt, uito cum ispi insaniunt_ ”

Alex froze as the woman finally spoke, turning to look at her. The woman smirked at her

“ _‘They call me mad, while they are all mad themselves’,_ ” she tilted her head at Alex, reminding Alex of a cat or a dog “tell me, are you mad, Alexandra Danvers, daughter of Jeremiah. Or are you the only sane person in a mad world?”

“How did you know that?” Alex breathed “my father’s name, how did you know?”

The woman’s lips curled into a slow, lazy smile

“How do you know that I’m not who I claim to be?” she chuckled “you forgot to lock my restraints” she purred.

With a sudden burst of speed, the woman on her! Pinning her to the wall, hand around her throat

“There’s a part of me that would _love_ to wring you neck right now for betraying me,” she began as Alex struggled for air “but…no,” the woman suddenly spun her around, holding her flush, hand now clapped over her mouth to silence her as Alex sucked in several harsh breaths through her nose, trying to bite at her hand to no avail.

With a grunt, she stumbled as the woman pushed her through the door and out into the hallway

“And we’re walking” she cheered as she led her hostage down the hall, past several orderlies who tried to lunge for her, only for the woman—Astra, Alex’s mind supplied—to deftly dodge, moving with an almost-inhuman amount of speed. Wriggling, Alex tried going limp, hoping to either drag Astra down with her or at the least get her to let go, but the woman somehow held her up with surprising strength despite her wiry form.

Turning, she elbowed the door to the stairwell open, the lock breaking with surprising ease as she marched Alex up the stairs, still with one hand to her mouth as she swiftly ascended the stairs, trying to reach the roof apparently as emerged onto the rooftop, dragging Alex towards the edge of the building.

There was a sharp _popping_ sound and Astra suddenly went limp, releasing Alex as she doubled over, two prongs from a Taser embedded in her back as Lillian Luthor tasered her.

Grunting and gurgling, Astra looked up; reaching out towards Alex almost desperately as she suddenly slumped over, unconscious

_Alex was suddenly somewhere else. A small room with metal walls, the lights a harsh green. She was holding someone back as they struggled, half-crawling towards the center of the room where Astra was kneeling in a strange glass cylinder, figures in Army green standing over her, holding her down, as man armed with a syringe approached her_

_“This is who you ally with?” Astra spat “against your own people? Your family?”_

“Ms. Danvers?”

Alex jerked and came back to reality, looking up to see Dr. Luthor standing besides her

“Are you all right?” she asked. Blinking, Alex looked over to see a semi-conscious Astra being carried off by six orderlies

“Yeah,” Alex shook her head “yeah, I’m good, I’m OK. Just…never had a patient attack me before”

“It was bound to happen sometime” Dr. Luthor shrugged as she turned to leave.

Frowning, Alex cautiously approached the roof’s edge and looked down, seeing nothing but the mist, as always…


	2. Dreams Are a Fool's Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWO! Enjoy the weirdness! :=)

******

_**“Who then is sane? He who is not a fool”** _

\--Horace

******

Alex slept in fits and starts that night, plagued by strange dreams. Dreams of people she didn’t know yet who seemed incredibly familiar, dreams of flying, being held, carried by Astra as they soared over the city, the other woman holding her tight as Supergirl flew by, grinning at them.

Walking into work the next morning, she felt disoriented, out of touch with reality. Signing in, she noticed that she had the same patient listed on her roster today. Shaking off the nerves that came with the sight of that name, she nodded to herself and marched down the hall to Room 52 and unlocked the door.

Patient Astrid Starr a.k.a. ‘Astra Inze’ was currently strapped down to the bed this time, according to the chart, under heavy sedation. Checking that the restraints were secured _tightly_ this time, Alex did the same exams as yesterday, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Sighing in resignation, she’d realized that she’d been hoping for something unusual, something, dare she say it, alien.

“Well,” she sighed to the unconscious Astrid Starr “hope you get better” she muttered as she turned

“Thank you”

She froze, turning to see the patient open her eyes and _wink_ at her…

******

Exiting the room, Alex knew she should report the fact the patient was most decidedly _not_ sedated properly to Dr. Luthor, but found that she couldn’t, those strange images from her dreams flashing by her minds eye.

Dreams of Astrid Starr dressed all in black, flying through the air like Superman, even at one point, fighting Superman to a standstill, of another where she looked at Alex which such tenderness, her hand coming up to gently stroke Alex’s cheek, fingers curling into her hair to gently pull her forward into one of the softest and most passionate kisses Alex had ever received, in her dreams or real life. The dreams didn’t feel like dreams, they felt more like memories, like another life almost

No, she decided, she’d wait until she could figure it out.

“Alex”

She turned, staring at the tall, green-skinned being standing a few feet away. The Martian Manhunter, who didn’t look as scary as everyone said he did

“J’onn” she whispered

“What?”

Blinking, the image of the Martian vanished, being replaced by Dr. Henshaw

“Sorry, Dr. Henshaw,” she shook her head “I…thought you were someone else”

“Hmm,” Henshaw grumbled “how’s the crazy in Room 52?” he asked

“Sedated,” Alex answered easily “resting comfortably”

“Good,” Henshaw sneered “make sure it stays that way”

As he turned and left, Alex glanced back at the door of Room 52, peering through the small window at Astrid Starr

No, she corrected herself, her name was ‘Astra’, that much she knew.

As for the rest…she had no clue…


	3. The Madness of Us All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THREE! Enjoy! :=)

******

_**“I teach that all men are mad”** _

\--Horace

******

_Astra turned from the picture to look up at Alex sharply_

_“If she is your sister, and I am her aunt, what does that make us?”_

_Alex shook her head_

_“Nothing” she said emphatically, watching as something like…disappointment crossed Astra’s face_

_“Do not allow your hatred for me to blind you now,” she shook her head “now, are you ready to listen…or not?”_

Alex jerked awake, groaning as she examined the clock, five AM. Sighing, she turned on the light and lay against the pillows before throwing off the pillows and shuffling on into the kitchen, flicking on the light and freezing at the sight of Astra standing before her.

“Hello, Alex” she smiled softly at the young woman

“Wha, what are you doing here?” Alex breathed “ _how_ did you get out?!” she demanded

“I go where I want to go, stay where I want to stay, and love who I want to love” Astra replied cryptically as she slowly approached Alex

“Stay back!” Alex lunged for the kitchen counter, snatching up a butter knife (not a particularly effective weapon, but still a knife was a knife) and holding it out in front of herself, aimed at Astra “I mean it!” she added

Astra actually _giggled_ at her as she kept walking until she right up against the knife’s point. Looking down at the blade now poking her in the stomach, she calmly kept walking, actually _impaling_ herself on the knife as Alex looked on in horror and shock

“Oh, Alex,” Astra sighed, as if Alex was overreacting, even as blood rapidly stained her shirt “you can’t die in a dream,” she reached out, stroking blood-stained fingers across Alex’s cheek “because that’s all this is. A dream,” she leaned in, hot breath ghosting across Alex’s ear “ _waky-waky_ ” she whispered…

Alex jerked awake, finding herself slumped over her desk at home, books and papers on hallucinations spread out around her. Taking a shaky breath, she ran a nervous hand through her hair…

******

The next morning, Alex marched through the halls, heading straight for Room 52, pausing at the sight of the open door and the empty room

“Hey,” she grabbed a passing orderly “where’s the patient who was in here?”

The orderly blinked at her

“What patient?” he asked “no one’s been in that room for over a year”


	4. Mad, Mad, Mad World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FOUR! More weirdness up next! Enjoy! :=)

******

_**“Though this be madness, yet there is method ‘t”** _

\--William Shakespeare, _Hamlet_ , Act III, scene 2, line 208

******

Alex stood in the center of Room 52, slowly looking around, but the room was indeed empty. The walls were bare, the bed had been stripped down to the mattress, it looked like every other unused room in the building.

Stepping out into the hall, Alex shook her head, the orderly could have been mistaken, after all not every person in the building knew what patients were in what rooms off the top of their heads, but that didn’t explain the empty, bare room

“Alex,”

She turned, seeing Astra standing there in the middle of the hall, dressed all in black

“I don’t have much time,” Astra said as she swiftly approached the young woman “oh…look at you,” she breathed as she reached up, her thumb brushing against Alex’s cheek “so brave,” she murmured.

She suddenly looked to the left, gasping “not yet, not yet,” she growled “not yet, damn it!” she turned to look at Alex desperately “go to the roof!” she urged, even as the air around and behind her started to…ripple, like a curtain being drawn back “hurry!” she urged as the air suddenly parted and she was forcibly dragged back, hands clawing at the air as she reached for Alex

Alex took a shuddering breath as she watched the space where Astra had stood, feeling dizzy and lightheaded…

******

“Ms. Danvers, why didn’t you tell me this before?” Dr. Luthor asked as Alex frantically paced in front of her desk

“Because I didn’t know what to think,” Alex ranked a hand through her hair “look, I don’t know how or why, but Astra—Astrid Starr, is connected to this somehow”

Dr. Luthor looked up

“I’m sorry, who?” she asked

“Don’t you start!” Alex snapped “Astrid Starr, the patient in Room 52! The one who took me hostage! The one you tased up on the roof!”

“Ms. Danvers, there hasn’t been a patient in Room 52 for over a year,” Dr. Luthor explained. She frowned as she slowly stood up, coming around the desk and, gently gripping Alex by the shoulders eased her down into a chair “why don’t you go home for the day?” she suggested “take some time off, rest”

Alex frantically shook her head, feeling like the ground was slipping out from under her

“No, no, no” she bolted up and ran out of the office, sprinting down the halls and outside, stumbling out onto the sidewalk and across the street. Reaching the other side, she took a deep breath, she felt a little better, more focused as she stood at the crosswalk and prepared to cross back, watching as the light changed and she could cross.

There was a sudden screech of squealing tires, and she had just enough time to turn before she was flying through the air, bouncing off the hood a speeding car to land on the pavement in a bone-breaking tumble. Pain burned through her as her vision blurred and dim as people crowded around her, gawking as she lay dying in the street.

She felt like she was underwater, no…wait, she _was_ underwater, hands holding her down, trying to keep her still, weakly opening her eyes she saw two blurry, unfocused images of two people standing over her, both of them trying to hold her still as a bright light shone down on them from above, the light pulsing and blurring as she struggled against the hands

“Come on, Alex!” one figure, a man, suddenly snarled “you’re only making this harder than it has to be!” he growled as she felt a sharp prick at her arm. Feebly turning her head, she saw Astra now standing over her, a syringe in her hand

“Easy,” she soothed as Alex tried to fight off the hands, tried to get up, to flee “sh, sh,” Astra soothed, a hand stroking her hair “just go to sleep, just go to sleep”

“Now, Ms. Danvers, you were saying about the patient in Room 52?”

Alex blinked as she found herself back in Dr. Luthor’s office

“Ms. Danvers?” Dr. Luthor prompted

Mumbling, Alex turned and slipped out the door without a word.

******

She didn’t really remember coming home, but as she walked through the door, she found a candlelight dinner for two had been set up on her dining room table, two ready to eat steak dinners had been set out while her shower ran.

“Hello?” she called out. Cautiously making her way down the hall to her bedroom, she found the bedroom empty, even as the sounds of someone in the shower became clearer. Cautiously peering around the corner, she found that someone, a woman, apparently if the silhouette was anything to go by, was indeed in her shower.

Taking a breath, she slowly tip-toed across the tile floor, reaching out, she put a hand on the curtain and yanked it back, gasping as she suddenly found herself standing at the edge of a yawning abyss, darkness stretching out as far as the eye could see.

A hand suddenly grabbed her shirt from behind and pulled her back…

….she laughed as Astra spun her around the room, the music soft and low

“OK, you almost got it,” she explained “but you’re not suppose to dislocate my arm”

Astra scowled as they broke apart

“The steps were different on Krypton” she grumbled

“I’m sure they were,” Alex nodded “now, come on, let’s try again,” she took Astra’s hand “and this time, _I’ll_ lead” she explained

Alex jerked back, suddenly finding herself flat on her back on her bathroom floor, the curtain drawn back, the shower running, soap in her eyes. Swiping her wet hair back from her face, Alex groaned…


	5. If You Can Ask 'Am I Crazy' Then You're Probably Sane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FIVE! Double update! Enjoy! :=)

******

_**“Every madman thinks all other men mad”** _

\--Syrus

******

Walking into work later that morning Alex found that no one stared at her, no one gave her funny looks, everyone treated her just like they had before, which only made her doubt her sanity even more. Did _any_ of it actually happen?

“Good morning, Ms. Danvers”

“Oh! Dr. Luthor!” Alex frantically waved the other woman down “this may seem like an odd question, but…did I come to your office yesterday?”

Dr. Luthor frowned

“Yesterday? No, not that I can recall,” she answered “why? Did you need to speak to me about something?”

“Yes,” Alex nodded, it was the moment of truth “it’s about Room 52”

“What about it?”

“I was wondering if we had have any patients in there in the past year,” Alex replied “because I saw that there was a patient listed as being in there but I can’t find any other information”

Dr. Luthor smirked

“You must’ve seen an old chart then,” she declared “no one’s been in Room 52 for over year”

“Who was the last patient?” Alex wondered. Dr. Luthor frowned, clearly wondering what all the questions were about but answered anyway

“I think…yes, an ‘Astrid Starr’, that was it. Sad really,” she sighed “the poor woman thought that she was Supergirl’s aunt”

“Was?” Alex asked, unnerved by the use of past-tense

“Yes,” Dr. Luthor sighed “she stopped taking her meds and eventually jumped off the roof one day, thinking she could just…fly away…,” she trailed off with a sad shake of her head “such a shame”

Alex slowly nodded, suddenly feeling sad for the death of a woman who she didn’t know

“All right,” she swallowed “thank you, Doctor”

“Of course”

Now alone, Alex took a breath and began her rounds, starting with Room 52…

******

Room 52 was empty, just as it had been last time she’d been in here, but Alex found herself looking around for something, anything to explain what she’d experienced, she was seriously starting to believe in ghosts and hauntings right about now, it was the only ‘logical’ (she laughed at that) explanation, because the alternative meant that she was losing her mind.

Scowling, she sat up and huffed out an annoyed breath. She’d searched the entire room short of tearing the walls apart and had found exactly _nothing_. Frowning, she left the room and headed up to the roof. Peering down over the edge, she frowned, the sudden urge to jump, to leap over the edge overtaking her.

Gasping, she staggered back from the edge, sitting down on the hard, dirty concrete as her cell phone rang. Pulling it out, Alex found it was a call from a restricted number, probably a telemarketer then, but still she answered it, just to be sure

“Hello?”

“ _BP’s decreasing, heart rate is slowing now_ ”

“ _Damn it! What the hell just happened?_ ” the same man’s voice demanded

“ _She’s aware,_ ” Astra’s voice suddenly said “ _she knows, on some level, she knows_ ”

There was a sharp crackle of static and the call went dead. Standing up, Alex walked back over to the roof edge and look down, seeing Astra at the bottom looking up at her, smiling softly.

Closing her eyes, Alex took a breath and looked again

Nothing, no one there…

******

She took the rest of the day off, and soon found herself in her car driving aimlessly across the Otto Binder Bridge when the radio crackled to life of its own volition

“ _Heart rate is slowing again, rapid eye movement increasing_ ”

“ _Damn it!_ ”

Grunting, Alex repeatedly slammed the flat of her hand into the console, yelping as the car fishtailed suddenly. Regaining control of the vehicle, she pulled to the side of the road and banged her head of the steering wheel, sniffling in frustration and tiredness

The whoop of a police siren made her look up with a groan. Shutting off the engine, she rolled down the window and had her license and registration out before the cop car had even pulled to a stop. Glancing out the side-view mirror as the cop climbed out of her car and approached, Alex wondered what else could go wrong today

“Well, this is a nice change of pace,”

Alex looked up at the familiar voice, gaping at the sight of Astra now standing by her door dressed as an NCPD officer. Grinning, she leaned into the window, resting her arms on the door “license and registration please,” numbly, Alex handed over the requested items, too stupefied to speak “just be a moment,” Astra left, heading back to the cruiser parked behind Alex’s car.

Alex took several deep breaths, determined not to panic as Astra came back, handing her a ticket

“Next time you want to change lanes, don’t do it during the middle of rush hour,” she advised. She reached in and tapped the ticket “left a little note for you”

Turning the ticket over, Alex saw that there was one word written on the back ‘JUMP’. She blinked and looked back up at Astra only to see her disappear back into the cruiser. Groaning, Alex put the papers on the passenger seat and turned the engine back on, shifting in gear when the car suddenly jerked, being hit from behind.

Twisting around, she stared at the image of the police car, Astra behind the wheel, ramming into the back of her car. Tires squealing, the car began to shift, lurching forward onto the pedestrian walkway and over the edge of the bridge.

Gasping, Alex shifted the car into park and struggled to undo her seatbelt even as Astra climbed out of the cruiser, drew her gun and fired several shots into the car, the rear window shattering in a spray of glass that covered Alex as the car continued lurching forward, the front wheels spinning uselessly as they lurched over the edge, one of the rear tires suddenly exploding from one of Astra’s shots.

Still pinned by her seatbelt, Alex gasped for breath as Astra came around to the drivers’ side, gun aimed directly at Alex’s head as she smashed through the glass with her baton.

Thumbing back the hammer of the gun, Astra sighed tiredly

“This would go a lot easier if you stopped fighting, Alex” she snarled as she pulled the trigger…

…Alex jerked awake, finding herself back in her bed…


	6. Rage, Rage Against The Dying of The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triple update! Chapter SIX! Enjoy! :=)

******

_**“Much madness is divinest sense  
To a discerning eye;  
Much sense the starkest madness  
‘Tis the majority  
Assent, and you are sane;  
Demur,—you’re straightaway dangerous,  
And handled with a chain”** _

\--Emily Dickenson

******

Alex probably shouldn’t have gone into work today, she should have stayed home, in fact she should have stayed in bed. But if she did that than it meant that she was giving in, that she was surrendering to whatever madness, delusion, or disease she had. No, best to try and maintain her routine, to try and keep whatever tenuous hold on her sanity she had left.

Filling out a patient’s chart, Alex froze at the sight of the name of admitting doctor

**Dr. Astrid Starr**

Taking a harsh breath, she closed her eyes, counted to ten, and tried again

****

**Dr. Ashley Strand**

Breathing a sigh of only partial relief, Alex filed the chart away and went about her rounds, steadily avoiding Room 52…

******

The rest of the day had been uneventful, thankfully, and Alex had actually been starting to think that the whole thing had all been a series of bad dreams. Signing out for the night, she’d shrugged on her coat and stepped out into the cold night air

“Spare some change?”

Alex started at the voice, seeing Astra sitting on the curb, dressed shabbily as she held out a paper cup, eyes twinkling

“Or how about a moment of your time?” she asked

Turning away, Alex headed down the street, steadfastly ignoring the other woman

“Excuse me, could help me, I forgot my cell phone”

Alex jerked as a well-dressed Astra climbed out of a parked car

“No!”

Turning, she sprinted down the street, skidding to stop at church she’d seen earlier. Gasping, she pushed open the doors and sighed in relief at the quietness of the church. Sinking down into one of the pews, she took several deep breaths, absently noting a group of nuns pass by out of the corner of her eyes

“Are you all right?” one nun asked as she paused

Alex’s head jerked up, freezing at the sight of Astra now standing before in a nun’s habit, smiling mysteriously.

Gasping, Alex shoved past the nun and ran out into the street, sinking to knees as she finally broke down, sobbing hysterically

“I’m losing my mind!” she moaned to no one in particular

“No, you’re not,” a familiar voice sighed as someone sat down next to her “you’re just going sane in an insane world” Astra continued. Slowly lifting her head, Alex looked up at the other woman

“Who _are_ you?” she demanded “what do you _want_ from me?” she pleaded

Astra smiled sadly at her

“I want to help you,” she explained as she stood up and offered Alex a hand “but I can’t do that if you keep fighting,” she paused and looked around “shit,” she swore as the shadows suddenly seemed to enlarge and envelop her, even as she fought against them, reaching for Alex “stop fighting!!!” she snarled “damn it! Alex! STOP FIGHTING ME!!” she roared as the shadows suddenly swallowed her whole, leaving nothing but the empty street…


	7. Just Click Your Heels Together Three Times and Say, 'There's No Place Like Home'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SEVEN! Enjoy! :=)

******

_**“To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven”** _

\--Ralph Waldo Emerson

******

_‘Stop fighting me’_ Astra had said.

Alex turned those words over in her mind as she got home and listlessly ate and watched TV with the sound off. Was that the key? But how could that be? How could she be fighting Astra if she didn’t even know she was fighting to begin with?

Shaking her head she tried to get the image of those haunting grey-green eyes out of her mind, but couldn’t. They were sad eyes, so sad, and Alex wanted to see them be happy, she could make Astra happy she knew, but Astra didn’t seem to want to acknowledge the attraction between them, not as long Kara insisted on hovering around them both.

Alex sat up. Who the hell was Kara?

“Sister,” she breathed “my sister. Kara’s my sister,” she strained, trying to get the memory of Kara’s face but was only left with a blur “damn,” she sighed “no,” she sat up straighter “no, this is good. This is good,” she stood up and started to pace “OK, so I have a sister that I don’t remember, OK,” she groaned “great, now I’m talking to myself”

******

She didn’t sleep at all that night, barely even dozed, it was only because that she took the bus to work that she was avoiding a traffic accident. Like every major city, National City’s buses were full of colorful characters; currently there was a woman in the back drumming on a bongo drum and singing about the environment, much to the other passengers’ annoyance.

As the bus stopped and the woman got off, Alex wasn’t all that surprised to find that it was Astra, this time dressed like a hippie. But this time, Alex merely nodded at her as she got off the bus. Astra smiled sadly and nodded back at her as the doors closed.

******

The bus was, so far, the first and last time she’d seen Astra this morning. Getting into work, she barely had time to take off her jacket before a loud crash pierced the air followed by a series of hysterical screams

“What the hell?” Alex muttered

“Its the new patient!” a nurse called back as she hurried off, Alex following her. Skidding around the corner, Alex watched a young blonde woman easily _lifted_ and threw one of the orderlies across the hall, screaming and yelling obscenities as she was tackled by the rest of the staff on hand.

Alex however, remained rooted to the spot, staring. That hair, those eyes, it couldn’t be, but it was

“Kara,” she whispered as the blonde fought against the orderlies. Kara who was Supergirl, Alex remembered, who was Astra’s niece, Astra who’d come to Alex to help free Kara from the black mercy, who jumped off the roof to fly away.

“Fly away,” she whispered as the pieces fell into place “fly away” turning she began to sprint down the hall

“Danvers?!” someone called out “hey! Danvers! Get back here!!”

Brushing past orderlies, other nurses, and patients, Alex kept running, lungs burning, heart pounding as she took the stairs two at a time, bursting out onto the roof, stumbling across Dr. Lillian Luthor, who apparently was in the midst of a cigarette break

“Ms. Danvers,” she acknowledged, frowning in clear confusion “what are you doing? What’s going on?” she asked

Alex sucked in a lungful of air, giggling madly at how _simple_ it was. How could she have missed that?

She looked up at Lillian still giggling

“Those things will kill you, you know?” she remarked. Then before Lillian could stop her she sprinted towards the roof’s edge and jumped off…

******

“She’s out!”

Alex sat up with a gasp, water from the tank she’d been suspended in sloshing around as she lurched upright, gasping for breath

“Alex! Thank god!” J’onn exclaimed as he rushed over to her. Coughing for breath, she looked around, spotting Astra standing a few feet away

“You,” she panted out “have a lot of explaining to do, General!” she snarled out…


	8. The Man Behind the Curtin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter EIGHT! Behold and all will be revealed! :=)

******

_**“There is no great genius without some touch of madness”** _

\--Seneca

******

The creature looked very like a python as it swam in its tank, the dim blue glow from its bioluminescent scales the only sign that it was not of this Earth as DEO techs scribbled down information about its vital signs as they buzzed around the tank

“So…,” Alex wrapped the towel around her neck and assessed the tank “that thing bit me”

“Stung you, actually,” Astra corrected “it’s venom has a psychotropic effect,” she explained “for all intents and purposes, your mind believed that whatever you were seeing was real”

Alex nodded dimly

“Why were you there?” she wondered “why did I keep seeing you? I thought you said that your system burned through the venom in an hour?”

“It did,” Astra nodded “but the creature is similar to a black mercy, it attacks its prey on a telepathic level. As a result we were joined, telepathically linked

“That’s why you attacked me,” Alex realized “you were trying to free me”

Astra nodded

“Yes, like I said, my physiology is different from yours, I was more aware of the illusion than you. When Lillian Luthor shot me, it was actually my own mind forcing me out of the illusion”

“But why did I _keep_ seeing you?” Alex asked

“Because we were linked, an…‘echo’ of my mind was left behind as it were,” Astra began “so what you saw wasn’t ‘me’ but rather the echo of my mind in your own subconscious”

“So, every time I saw you after you got tasered it was actually my own subconscious fighting back” Alex reasoned

“Yes” Astra nodded as Alex groaned, running a hand through her wet hair

“I thought I was losing my mind,” she groaned “and why am I wet?”

“Better conductivity for the electroshock” Astra explained

“Electroshock,” Alex repeated “you _electrocuted_ me?!”

“The charge burned away the worst of the venom” Astra explained

For a moment both women lapsed into silence

“You kissed me” Alex said suddenly

“Did I? When?”

“Back before the raid,” Alex explained “you pulled me close and kissed me just before we got out of the van, before Cadmus got the drop on us and this thing stung me”

“Hmm,” Astra chuckled “I don’t recall”

“Cut the crap will you?” Alex groaned “we both know that there’s… _something_ there between us. Why keep fighting it? Kara won’t mind”

“How do you know that?” Astra wondered

“She’s dating Lena Luthor” Alex smirked

Astra blinked

“Oh,” she said mildly. She turned to face Alex, reaching out with shaking hands to cup her face “may I kiss you?” she requested

“I really wish you would,” Alex grinned, sighing as Astra kissed slow and sweet. Breaking apart for air, Alex sighed as she slumped against Astra, resting her head on the other woman’s shoulder

“Am I still dreaming?” she wondered

Astra laughed

“No, my darling, no you are very much awake”

“Good,” Alex looked up at her and grinned “because I want to keep doing this” she explained as she leaned in and kissed Astra back…

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! The end of my _very_ trippy GD Monthly 6 medical AU prompt. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and get my head examined to find out _why_ I wrote this :=)
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos, I might revisit this prompt later on, write a more straightforward medical AU
> 
> \--AXEe :=)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=). UPDATE Am reposting this so that it should appear under the proper prompt now :=)


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